Interestingly,
there is a Path to Nirvana. It can be drawn as a
flowchart. It often is at Pa Auk Forest Monastery where we trained. The only problem is that this schematic irks some people,
Wisdom Quarterly included, for the massive jump at the beginning.
But it works for others who do not find those initial steps to be stumbling blocks at all due to the natural ability to sit, settle, and reach samadhi. Variations of the chart run something like:
 |
| Meditations (Pa Auk Sayadaw) |
(Bring store of
paramis), sit, take up
Breath Meditation (
anapana-sati) OR
Four Elements Meditation until
nimitta (learning sign) appears, take it to attainment of
jhana (first
meditative absorption with the appearance of the
Five Factors of Absorption that displace the
Five Hindrances), perfect it;
See
anicca-dukkha-anatta (the
Three Universal Marks of Existence, the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and impersonal nature of ALL conditioned existence) and let go so that the Eye of Wisdom (stream entry, the first stage of enlightenment that glimpses/touches
Nirvana, which is the Deathless State, the Unconditioned Element, Ultimate Bliss, the
summum bonum, the cessation of all suffering...) arises;
 |
| Scholar-practitioner Master Pa Auk Sayadaw |
Notice a big, possibly insurmountable, bump in the chart? How does one get to the first
jhana? Persistence, slow and steady practice,
contentment (
santuthi) more than a
sense of urgency (
samvega), which can lead to too much "
efforting," or muscling, when it's better to use
saddha (faith, confidence, conviction) to
rest the mind/heart and carry on even when it seems hopeless or pointless, too hard or too lofty, doubtful or impossible. It is possible!
COMMENTARY
This path, strangely, in this day and age, will be a little easier for women. Why should that be? It is because the way we have been conditioned. What arises in "meditation" (the
nimitta, jhanas, absorptions, states of
piti/bliss) are
allowed not strived for,
accepted not grasped at, experienced not done. And this receptivity to experience, rather than the "go getter" attitude we disproportionately train males to have, works better in the spiritual realm IF one can establish persistence, discipline, and steadiness of effort over what males are famous for, which is a tremendous amount of effort in bursts and then slacking off for a long time. What works in the world will not work very well here, and perhaps "spirituality" should be treated as "play"
(
lila) rather than "work" (
kammatthana).
 |
| The Buddha's life is told as an allegory? |
It bears saying that everyone misunderstands the allegory of
the Buddha's life, because if we ask someone, "What was the key turning point for Siddhartha that finally enabled him to breakthrough and attain his goal of supreme enlightenment?" Simple question. Where's the
volta? Almost universally people will pick the wrong event. Most people will say it was when the wandering ascetic said, "I will not get up from this tree even if my blood turns to dust and I wither away" or something like that. That is the sure way to failure and frustration. It might be better to point at an incident the Buddha credited as the turning point. Remember how he strived so hard that he collapsed? He accepted food from a woman's hand (Sujata), he stopped blaming the body for lust and "sin" and the troubles of the mind/heart.
 |
| How did Siddhartha become the Buddha? |
He realized the futility of penances,
tapas, extreme austerities and wondered what might be the path to awakening. Intuition suggested to him that it was
jhana, "absorption," which for so long he feared because it was associated with pleasure. But he reasoned that this is not ordinarily worldly pleasure like the hedonistic pursuits of his youth in the palace in Saka Land/Scythia. In a sense, he surrendered, he let go, he stopped pushing. He recalled that at age 7 he had spontaneously entered absorption under the tree at the Planting Festival and wondered if that might be a better path to pursue. A knowing came over him that it was. He let go and let Nature take its course. "Meditation" is not something we do. What we "do" is perhaps prepare the soil and the circumstances for the plant to arise and send out a flower that blossoms. We didn't
do it. It did it. We allowed it, tended it, gardened it, protected it, persisted in protecting it, pursued it, and in that sense "brought it into being," which is what
bhavana means. It is about cultivation and development rather than doing and accomplishing.
What's the secret?
If anyone needs more proof of this, consider the musician who did his darndest in striving -- even giving up music and becoming a Buddhist monk -- and failed. He slacked off and failed. He redoubled his efforts and tried even harder. And failed harder, so hard he gave up and went to the Buddha to tell him he was leaving. He was shocked when the Buddha did not protest and instead wished him well. "Really, I can just go?"
"Have a good life," the Buddha said, "and, oh, by the way, what are you going to do now?" "Go back to music, of course," he said. "Oh, you play music?" the Buddha asked. The man was a little indignant as he was the most famous musician in the realm, enchanting audiences with his
lyre (
vina, veena, harp, guitar). Didn't the Buddha know that?
"Yes, I play it very well." "So, tell me," the Buddha went on. Do you overtighten your strings?" "Of course not! That would produce a harsh and discordant and sound." "Oh, so you leave them very slack?" the Buddha went on. "Of course not! That would produce a dull and discordant sound." "Well, then, how is it?" the Buddha asked. "I
tune it -- not too tight, not too loose -- balanced and just so, making sure it doesn't go out of tune..." and as he explained, insight dawned on him and he excused him, not having disrobed, still a monk. He withdrew into solitude and took up his meditation object but this time not
too harshly, not with so much effort as before, and feeling himself slacking, he would straighten up a little and pursued his ends in a balanced way. And in no long time, he was successful. And he came back to thank the Buddha, who maybe smiled and winked at him, if the Buddha winked at anybody. It isn't hard, but we make it harder than it needs to be. It isn't easy, but if we apply no effort at all, we will never see it. Not this, not that, then what? Balance. (See
the story of Ven. Sona).
- Teachings of Pa Auk Sayadaw and accomplished students interpreted and reported by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
